


True Colours

by xSophie2x



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Fancy school, First impressions matter, M/M, Modern AU, More tags to be added, Pride & Prejudice AU, Slow Burn, prejudices, pride & prejudice, rich people
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:35:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25687426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xSophie2x/pseuds/xSophie2x
Summary: Liam shares his room at Beacon Hills Academy with Mason, Nolan and Alec. Life goes smooth and he is curious to meet the two new students his teachers have been telling them about. He quickly finds out that he is in for a disappointment there, though. However, as he starts to get to know Theo better, he realizes that things aren't always what they seem, and he shouldn't be too quick to jump to conclusions.Or: my attempt at a modern Thiam Pride & Prejudice au.
Relationships: Corey Bryant/Mason Hewitt, Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to do this for a while... So here it is and I'm hoping this attempt will be good.  
> Also, I want to shout a big thank you to Ella, for helping me figure out the story and the characters! :) The action starts rightaway!  
> I hope you'll enjoy this :)

It was a fact widely known that people with good fortune would often send their children to the schools they deemed best for them.

Liam’s parents had been no exception to this, as when he’d been younger, that had been the elementary school in town where most of the kids had gone to. There, he’d met his best friend Mason for the first time, who he, when growing up, grew inseparable with. The amount of trees they climbed, and the bruises they got when they fell out of them, were still proof of that. Somehow, even elementary school became more bearable when you were looking forward to seeing your friend every day, and after school, they often came over to each other’s houses, opening up books and dove into the subjects that they had learned about that day at school and found the most interesting.

At the age of thirteen, when his parents had scraped together the money they’d saved for him to go to high school, Liam exchanged his elementary textbooks for bigger textbooks when he went to Beacon Hills Academy, and was happy to be placed in the same class with Mason and get to share a room with him. Their other two roommates, Alec and Nolan, were nice, enthusiastic guys and, despite them having different interests than Liam and Mason in their new school, they quickly formed a strong friendship. It was what allowed them to come to a routine in their dorm, and why living together in one room worked for them.

In his first year at Beacon Hills Academy, something else caught Liam’s eye. As a result of long, relentless practicing with his stepfather, the well-known, promising lacrosse team of the school caught Liam’s attention and he tried out for it, having gotten in after a particularly impressive goal.

He kept up his best efforts to get better and help win a few games, teaching Alec and helping him to get in too during his lacrosse-obsessed phase in their second year. In their third year, Liam had been ecstatic to see all of his efforts pay off when he was made team captain, carrying the title all the way into his fourth and last year.

He loved playing and practicing with the team, he really did, but he’d been quick to find that being team captain was something else, and Liam needed the time he got to find his footing in the new position. Fortunately, to him, there was former captain and now assistant-coach Scott McCall, who took a gap year and stuck around after graduating the year before Liam, and was there to help him find his way around and offer help for any questions or doubts he may have. Liam took all the opportunities he could get to practice with him, and fire shots at the goal with all his might. It was always a good outlet for the stress from how busy their daily lives were, and forget about it temporarily.

Now, today, that was also how Liam walked back to his room with his lacrosse gear after a fresh shower, having finished his afternoon lacrosse practice with Scott, and pushing the door to his room open. Only to find Mason, Alec and Nolan hovering eagerly close by the window.

‘Hi,’ he started, taking a moment to catch his breath and letting them know he was there, catching their attention, and his friends’ heads whipped around to him. ‘What are you all looking at? What’s so interesting outside?’

‘Liam!’ Alec started immediately as he saw him, turning around and gesturing to the street, an excited look twinkling eagerly in his eyes. ‘Good that you’re here, you have to come look! There’s a huge car outside!’

Liam looked up from where he had dropped his lacrosse bag on his bed, rummaging through it, and a chuckle escaped him, letting Alec’s words spark his interest. Even after four years at this school, with sharing classes with rich classmates and seeing the big cars of their parents, the excited amazement of seeing something they didn’t have access to hadn’t faded, and of course, it didn’t help that their school was built in the middle of nowhere and there was little else to be excited about. Still, Liam figured, they had to be exaggerating about this at least a little bit.

He chuckled, walking over to the window and leaving his sports bag behind on his bed, a curious feeling haven taken hold of him. ‘Really?’ he asked, grinning. ‘Then I would like to see that,’ joining his friends and pushing aside the white curtain hanging in the way, from behind which they were all peering outside, and he could see better.

What he expected to see, though, definitely hadn’t been _that._

‘Wow…’ the word escaped him in awe, looking over at the big, expensive-looking black car standing at the edge of the driveway through the window, Alec hovering eagerly by his side, and watching where the doors of the car were just being pushed shut, with no passenger whatsoever in sight.

‘Wow indeed,’ Nolan commented behind him with wide eyes, as Liam leaned closer towards the window, curiously trying to make out a glimpse of whoever had been in the car, where they were, no doubt, already being ushered inside through the heavy wooden front doors of the school. ‘It’s looks like they have a chauffeur.’

Liam let out a sigh, turning and sliding down on the window seat, his face turned towards the street. ‘They must be so rich…’ he pondered, wistfully, as that was definitely something new to them, something no one at this school had ever had yet.

‘I know!’ Alec exclaimed next to him, pulling Liam back into reality. ‘I told you,’ laughing, seemingly pleased with Liam’s reaction to the news, and settling down beside him on the window seat. Liam sighed, turning towards the street once more where the black car was just driving off, something burning in his chest with curiosity, of desperately wanting to see the people behind such wealth, and wanting to meet the people who’s parents could afford a car like that.

‘You know, our running theory is…’ Mason said, Liam turning his head at the words, to where Mason just pulled out the desk chair from the corner and settled down on it, leaning back with a grin on his face. ‘That they’re the new students they told us would be coming last week.’

Something sparked in Liam’s chest at that, his lips twitching into a smile. ‘You know what, that might actually be true,’ he said, remembering having been told about that indeed, and he straightened his back, settling back more comfortably against the wall.

Nolan frowned, looking worried where he’d sat down on his bed, his legs crossed and said what was likely running through all their heads. ‘If that’s true, though, then they’re in for a ride,’ the four of them thinking about their richer classmates, the shallow interests they had and how they would all jump at the chance to talk about the new students and share their thoughts, and, more importantly, talk to them and get close to them. ‘They’ll be the most popular students at this school in no time.’

Liam nodded, lowering his eyes to where he had his hands in his lap, feeling somewhat understanding of what a reputation like that at this school entailed, since being lacrosse team captain he’d experienced some popularity and being talked about himself, and that was never easy. It helped that he and his parents weren’t so loaded that it would give him a reputation like that, though, and he shuddered at the thought of being picked apart by his classmates completely, with no consideration for him.

‘Well, I wouldn’t mind that,’ Alec declared, pulling Liam out of his own head. ‘Something to talk about, I mean. Nothing interesting has happened here at school for too long, I thought it might never happen again.’

He snickered, likely recalling the chaos that their school trip to the history museum had been, and Liam felt a smile tugging at his own lips at the memory.

‘Some people might beg to differ,’ he commented, thinking of their old, self-important principal Gerard Argent and how he ruled the school with an iron fist, especially after the school trip incident. ‘Speaking of which,’ he continued, standing up from the window seat and walking over to his bed, starting to clean up his lacrosse gear. ‘Who’s coming to the school party tonight?’

It was one of the only things Gerard allowed at the school solely for them, much to the students’ relief, and Liam knew he had to. Knew that as lacrosse team captain, he had to make an appearance, and he was looking forward to a night of letting to and being able to just be, forgetting about his homework for a little while and something excited for the party buzzing in his stomach, under his skin. But school parties were always more fun if his friends were there too.

‘I am!’ Mason said, spinning around on his desk chair, and Liam nodded, grinning. He and Mason did usually do most things together, and honestly, it would be more fun if he was there. ‘You know, I was thinking,’ Mason continued. ‘The new students might be there too, if they heard about this party.’

His statement seemed to have changed the atmosphere in the room, replacing the fun, joking one with one more serious than that, and Liam looked up, meeting his friends’ pensive gazes.

He hadn’t thought that way about it. But honestly, with their classmates most interested in mindless gossiping, that might be the best way for them to introduce themselves and making sure people knew of their arrival.

‘Why don’t we all go?’ Alec asked then, as the realization for him had settled and he stood up, making his way over to the closet and rummaging through it, in search of his favorite shirt. Liam smiled, Mason and Nolan chuckling, and Alec, making sure he never missed any of the action.

*****

The party, that night, wasn’t very different from their other school parties they had been to. Walking into the room, with a majority of the students already there livening it up, their voices loud over the sound of the music playing, they found the table with high school-appropriate drinks to their right. Being served by teachers, this time, professor Hale and professor Argent being the lucky ones, and the middle of the room, as always, was left open, a big empty space for them to dance in.

Seeing the set-up of it all, Liam felt ready to go almost as soon as he did, wanting to get something to drink first, and felt excitement for the night buzzing low in his stomach. Having taken a quick scan around the room, though, they realized that none of them had seen the new, unfamiliar faces of the students that had arrived that afternoon yet, and after a small wave of disappointment washing over them at that, the buzz returned at hearing the music, good songs to dance to, and they spotted their friendlier classmates across the room. Sydney and Gwen, the latter already with a drink in her hand, smiling and waving, and they made their way over to them, greeting them over the sound of the music as best as they could.

‘Hi!’ Liam called, earning a greeting in return, and he stepped to the side, turning and watching where more students poured in. ‘You’re here early tonight!’

‘A well, you know a party is always welcome!’ Gwen grinned to him. ‘I had to drag her away from her history assignment, or she was gonna overwork herself!’

Sydney rolled her eyes, and Liam chuckled, as he understood how that could be a bad thing. Being a huge history nerd himself, he didn’t mind their history assignments all that much. ‘It wasn’t that bad!’ Sydney called.

‘Neither is this,’ Gwen responded, following Liam’s lead, and turning back to the door with a pensive frown. ‘However, we seemed to have been promised two hot new classmates to talk to, hopefully better than literally any other guy I’ve ever known. Where are they?’

Liam’s head whipped over to her, unsurprised to find that the rumors the new students had arrived had reached her to, more focused on the fact she seemed to know they were guys, when the teachers up until this point had remained pretty vague about them. ‘You know them?’ he asked, incredulously.

At that, Gwen turned to him, a wicked grin on her face that told Liam enough. He sighed, shaking his head, unable to hide his smile at her gesture.

‘I already regret this,’ Sydney let them know, causing a wave of laughter to sound through their little group, and Liam watched as students started filling up the dance floor, never wanting to be the first one to go, but never wanting to wait too long either. He knew he’d likely dance laughing his ass off with Mason, Nolan and Alec as the night got later, like they always did, and they stopped caring about what other people thought of them.

With the party going, though, the music getting better as the time ticked on and Gwen putting down her empty glass and getting ready to lead them all onto the dance floor, it wasn’t hard to pinpoint the moment it all froze again, the room turning silent, void of any voices and the music being the only thing that remained, and all eyes turning towards the door.

Liam held in his breath, and he could feel Mason doing the same next to him, his shoulders steeling. He tried to steal glances over his classmates’ shoulders standing before him, standing on his toes to do so, and even then he could just barely make out the figures of the two boys standing by the door.

They stood next to each other, the boy on the left skinny and slightly taller than the other, a curious look bright in his eyes as he looked around the room and seemingly didn’t the mind the people staring back at him. The other guy… Liam found he wasn’t quite sure how to describe.

As the whispering started around him, rising in volume until the conversations had fully started again, Liam looked at the guy at the front of the room, with his broad shoulders, his nice expensive-looking clothes from which he gathered he obviously had good taste, his short dark-blonde hair neatly cut and his blank, almost disinterested face, and Liam felt something warm fluttering in his chest at the sight.

He was _attractive_ , there was no denying that, and by the talking of his classmates around him, excited to get to meet the new students at last, they seemed to know it too. The talking around him pulled him out of his daydream, shaking his head to shake it off of him for real, and just catching Mason’s question to Gwen, the two of them standing in front of him. ‘So who are they then?’

Answering his question, Gwen looked towards him. ‘That, is Corey Bryant,’ Gwen nodded towards the boy on the left, turning with a smug smile just twitching at the corner of her lip, seemingly pleased to include them all and tell them what she knew. She clearly seemed to have done her research, Liam couldn’t help but think, even if he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. ‘Rumor has it, he only came here because his friend did. And that…’ as she turned and nodded towards the guy on his right.

‘Is his friend Theo Raeken,’ Nolan cut her off, their heads snapping over to him in surprise, Gwen’s mouth hanging half open. ‘They transferred here from Devenford Prep.’

It stayed silent around the group, for a brief moment, and Liam’s eyes were wide, not having expected that coming from him, nearly as little as the rest of his friends did, and the question hung in the air between them. As the initial surprise faded, though, Mason snorted, crossing his arms and looking over at him. ‘I’m sorry,’ he started, hiccupping. ‘How exactly _do_ you know that?’

At that, Nolan flushed, looking flustered, as he seemed conflicted and unable to settle on just one expression, both proud and offended for the same reason of surprising them with his research. ‘I… asked around,’ he muttered in admission, crossing his arms over his chest in defense. ‘Professor Hale was willing to be more open about it.’

A second silence hit the group, shortly, before their lips curled up into smirks and Alec chuckled, crossing his arms and his eyes twinkled triumphantly. ‘Aah, Derek, of course we could count on him for this. Nicely done, Nol.’

Nolan grinned proudly at the words, a wave of laughter rolling through the group, as Derek was one of the cooler teachers they had at this school, and Liam frowned, the comment and current conversation not sitting right with him, as this was exactly what he meant, picking apart their new classmates like his friends and the students around them in the room were doing, and worried would only get worse from now on.

Turning back towards the door, Mason followed his lead, looking to where their new classmates had disappeared and walked further into the room.

‘Devenford Prep, though,’ Mason commented, his voice coming out in awe, and for that Liam couldn’t blame him, especially as something worried sounded through it. ‘Can you imagine what that must be like?’

Slowly, Liam shook his head, having his arms crossed over his chest, as he thought of their rival school. It was commonly known they were even richer there, and if their clothes were anything to go by, Theo and Corey weren’t any different. Everyone knew Devenford Prep was cold, strict, and Liam knew he was lucky that his own school, at least, was much more homely.

Letting his eyes wander through the room in search of Corey and Theo again, he found them by the table with the drinks, paying no mind to the little groups around them clearly whispering about them curiously, as they spoke and Theo nodded as Corey said something to him, laughing at his own comment.

Liam’s brows furrowed, as Theo definitely didn’t seem pleased to be here, his smiles seemingly hard to get out of him, though noticing the green of his eyes, Liam couldn’t help but hope to be proven wrong about him, should he get his chance to speak to him tonight.

*****

Stumbling away from the dance floor, stifling a laugh, Liam took in a deep breath, having had his fun dancing with Nolan and Alec and talking to people who stopped him every now and then, but feeling like he really needed a break and something else to drink after that, to calm his racing heart.

Having kept himself busy, having had fun and talking to other people, in the middle of his enjoying the night and letting go, he hadn’t noticed his friends drifting further from him, only now noticing them talking and dancing in small groups scattered throughout the room.

His eyes landed on Mason, standing over the table with the drinks, and his grin growing wider on his face as he saw Liam spotted him. ‘Liam!’ he called, gesturing him over. ‘Over here!’

A grin started on Liam’s face, Mason always being there when he needed it, and began making his way over to him, carefully through the crowd, until he was leaned up against the wall beside him and Mason pushed a cup in his hand.

‘I figured you could use one!’ he called, over the music. ‘You don’t look like you’re gonna dance again anytime soon.’

Liam let out a sigh, shaking his head as a smile played at his lips, and he looked over to where Alec and Nolan were still in the middle of enjoying themselves. ‘I don’t understand how I’m the one who is the captain of the lacrosse team, and yet they’re the ones who can hold out longer than I do!’ taking a sip from his soda.

‘I feel like we shouldn’t be surprised anymore at this point,’ Mason chuckled, looking over at him. ‘Though it is quite impressive,’ and a laugh escaped Liam, before everything suddenly happened all at once. A voice to their right interrupted them, calling out: ‘I’ll go get you a drink too then!’ and Liam barely had the chance to say: ‘Mason, look out!’ before their new classmate who they’d come to know as Corey knocked into him, walking backwards, and Mason huffed out a breath, catching himself against the wall to keep from stumbling and falling.

Immediately, upon the collision, Corey turned, a look that Liam could only describe as horrified on his face, his lips parted and his eyes widened in shock as they landed on Mason.

‘Oh, I’m… I’m so sorry, I did _not_ see you there,’ he pressed out, embarrassed, his face fearfully apologetic as he brushed a hand through his hair anxiously.

Looking over at Mason, Liam didn’t miss the twinkle in his eye, the amused curl of his lip into a small smile.

‘Clearly,’ he commented, chuckling, eyeing the drink in Corey’s hand that by a miracle, somehow, hadn’t ended up all over his clothes, before glancing up and meeting Corey’s eyes, letting some of the tension that the situation had brought on seep away. ‘It’s okay, though,’ he continued, friendly. ‘It happens,’ causing Liam to snort in his drink as he remembered the one time it had happened to Mason.

Corey frowned, glancing over at him, still looking apprehensive at what had nearly happened. ‘Are you sure?’ he asked, unsurely.

Mason smiled, nodding. ‘Totally,’ he chuckled. ‘I’m Mason, by the way,’ sending him a grin. At that, Corey seemed to relax, his shoulders slumping and a small smile making its way onto his face. ‘Corey,’ he introduced himself, ‘I’m new here,’ Liam watching in amusement as Mason expertly acted as if he didn’t already know that. Something twinkled in both their eyes, their smiles widening in a moment of silence as the mutual understanding that they would get along settled between them, and Liam had just pushed off the wall to go find Alec and Nolan when Mason spoke up again.

‘Eh, I’d… Ask you what you think of it here so far, but clearly, this party is all you get just yet,’ he chuckled, and Corey let out a laugh.

‘Lucky me,’ he grinned, taking his moment to let Liam tell him his name and introduce him, before he continued. ‘As you’d probably heard before, though, I was just grabbing a drink for…’ He paused, looking over his shoulder and a frown forming on his face when there was nothing, Liam and Mason falling silent as they just caught Corey grumbling softly to himself: ‘Damn him… Always hanging back…’

He took in a deep breath, Liam shooting Mason a questioning look, before Corey called out: ‘Theo, come meet Mason and Liam! And the drinks are here, if you want one!’

Liam couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was, when his shoulders tensed up a little, straightening his back and something nervous taking a hold of him, the temperature of the room seemingly dropping just a little bit when Theo appeared from behind Corey, all dignity and self-assurance, his back straight and a nice-looking jacket hanging snugly from his shoulders, over the black shirt underneath it, and Liam’s mouth felt dry, something nervous fluttering in his chest. He hadn’t remembered his wanting to talk to Theo tonight, up until now, and a more perfect opportunity than this there couldn’t have been.

Liam felt his lips curl into a smile, some of his nervousness flowing away as he felt more at ease with the situation. ‘Hi. Theo, right?’ and the boy nodded.

After that, the introductions and first meeting politeness gotten out of the way, Liam felt more at ease with the conversation, his shoulders relaxed. They took the conversation to one of the small wooden tables at the back of the room, little cups with snacks standing on top of them and empty chairs waiting for them, and it seemed to have steered onto the professors at Beacon Hills Academy, the classes they had and the school’s lacrosse team, of which Liam was proud to say he was the captain.

It was easy, flowing naturally, with Corey fitting in with them effortlessly, laughing along with them and sharing his thoughts like they’d known each other for years, much to the annoyance of their classmates, wanting to get to know them too and shooting glances in their direction continuously.

The only one who didn’t participate, staying silent and keeping himself in the background, was Theo, the boy tapping his foot on the ground and turning his attention back towards his phone every other minute, like something there was more important than the world happening around him. Around him, there was an air of disinterest, seeming unimpressed with all he’d seen of the school so far, an almost bored expression settled on his face.

Liam couldn’t help but glance over at him every now and then, the boy’s impatience for the conversation to be over distracting him from it, and he couldn’t deny that it made him a little uneasy, having one person of their small group willfully ignore them, and making him feel like Theo felt better than them. Now, knowing that, Liam couldn’t help but wonder how he had ever felt a spark of interest towards the other boy when he first saw him at the start of the night, that spark gone completely with the boy’s attitude, and next to him, he could tell that Mason noticed it too.

Mason’s voice, next to him, pulled him out of his thoughts, the boy chuckling softly. ‘You got a little something… There,’ he chuckled, pointing towards Liam’s collar.

Frowning, Liam looked down, plucking at his collar where he could barely see, and saw he had spilled some dust from his cocktail nuts there as he was lost in his thoughts, and paying no attention. ‘…Oh,’ he let out a laugh, wiping off his collar and catching Theo looking at him from the corner of his eye. He let out a soft breath, brushing the remains of the nuts from his shirt and onto the floor. Theo’s gaze followed the movement with raised eyebrows.

‘I’m gonna go grab something else to drink,’ Mason said next, standing up and looking around the table. ‘Anyone else want anything?’

After a quick response, shaking their heads, he started towards the table with drinks, Liam watching him go and being left alone in the conversation with Corey and Theo. ‘So what do you guys think so far?’ he asked. ‘A party must be a strange way to start at a new school. Have you guys danced already? I’m not sure how different this is from Devenford, but usually we have pretty good music here.’

Corey laughed, shaking his head and putting his glass down. ‘It is, kind of,’ he chuckled. ‘But you’re right, the music is nice. I just… Didn’t really want to dance first thing after coming here.’

Liam nodded, he could understand that, and his gaze wandered over to Theo, who, despite the impression he’d made on Liam so far, didn’t seem to have any trouble deciphering the silent question written over his face. _And you?_

‘I don’t really like to dance,’ he replied shortly, coughing, and placing his hands in his lap. ‘Not really my thing.’

Liam smiled, the corner of his lip just curling up, crossing his arms over his chest as he held his gaze. ‘Okay. Well, what _is_ your thing, then?’

The question had Theo rendered speechless for a moment, his lips parted, as he looked right back at Liam. Liam could see the wheels spinning behind his eyes.

‘Lacrosse,’ Theo said then, catching Liam off guard with the admission. ‘Devenford’s got quite a good team.’

Liam faltered, not having expected that kind of response, leaving a bad feeling settling in his stomach. He knew Devenford Prep’s lacrosse team was good, he didn’t need anyone telling him that, but that didn’t mean Beacon Hills Academy’s team couldn’t be good as well. Especially when he was working so hard to be a good team captain.

‘They seem to have had bad luck with winning lately, though,’ Liam replied as he found his footing again, thinking of the games between the two rival schools and how they always brought chaos and heavy emotion from their respective audiences. ‘We’ve won the past few matches.’

Theo nodded, his brows furrowed in thought. ‘The team captain has had a foot injury, he’s recovering from it.’

‘There are more players on a team,’ Liam countered, as Corey followed their talk with wide eyes, like a tennis match.

‘I always thought the team captain was the most important one.’

‘He is,’ Liam said, taking in a deep breath, wondering how much longer Theo was going to avoid saying anything good about Beacon Hills’ lacrosse team. ‘But it is a team sport, and so the other players are just as indispensable.’

With that, letting out a deep breath hoping his racing heart would calm, Theo looking up at him, he stood up, sending him a smile. ‘You are at Beacon Hills Academy now, though, and you’re both more than welcome to try out for our lacrosse team. And, now I should probably go find Mason.’ He turned, walking away from the table and ducking expertly through the crowd, making his way towards the drinks and finding Mason already half on his way back to them.

‘There you are!’ he called, an immense feeling of relief washing over him. ‘Why don’t we go find Nolan and Alec instead?’

He didn’t miss the moment Mason’s brows furrowed, his best friend looking over at him in confusion. ‘Why? Is everything okay?’

Liam sighed, taking a moment to take in a breath and brush through his hair, thinking of the best words to say this without sounding as agitated as he had the moment before. ‘I think… Theo and Corey are not the best people to be friends with,’ he said, as honestly as he could, and Nolan and Alec joined them cheerfully from behind. ‘Hey guys!’

Mason shot them a grin, greeting them, before looking back at Liam with a frown. ‘Why not? Corey is very nice…’ A chuckle escaping Liam’s lips at the comment, as he’d noticed his friend and the new boy getting along quite well, noticing the way they slowly made their way back to the table after all, Nolan and Alec following after them. ‘I’ll admit, Theo’s a little…’ Mason continued, though he was cut off as voices coming from their table, a little further ahead, floated their way.

‘Come on, Theo,’ Corey’s voice sounded, exasperated. ‘You can’t always keep doing this. I don’t get it.’

‘I wish we didn’t have to be here,’ Theo’s response came, and Liam stayed still pinned to his spot, frozen, only partly because he knew they shouldn’t be eavesdropping this, and partly because Theo had just said something that demeaned their school again, where, despite it being cold and strict and his classmates leaning towards the snobby side at times, Liam really loved being.

‘I know,’ Corey interrupted his thoughts. ‘But it’s only our last year, so why not make the most of it? Mason and Liam seem nice.’

A silence followed, where Liam imagined Theo making that skeptical, eyebrows furrowed face of him again, as he questioned Corey’s words.

‘Sorry,’ Theo sounded then, and Liam turned to his friends beside him. ‘But I’m not going to be friends with a lacrosse team captain who tries too hard and can’t control his teammates, and won his past few games solely on good luck!’

Well, then.

Liam stood frozen, pinned to his spot with his hands clenched tightly by his side, and he felt something hot buzzing underneath his skin as he turned to his friends, all with equally shocked looks on their faces. Mason stared at him, stunned, his mouth hanging open, and having heard only half the conversation, Nolan and Alec seemed confused of what was going on.

Liam couldn’t blame them. He felt pretty confused himself too, as to what he had done to deserve having Theo insult him in that way.

The silence lasted, questions hanging in the air between them, until Mason broke it. ‘Well,’ he said, cutting through the confusion, his voice cooling down the anger thrumming under Liam’s skin, his hand twitching, and he turned to him. ‘Look at it this way. If he thought you were nice, you’d actually have to be friends with him.’

And like that, the anger was gone, Liam exhaling a shaky breath and closing his eyes for a moment, taking in a breath. ‘That’s true,’ he said when he opened them again, chuckling shakily, his voice sounding weak even to his ears.

Mason smiled, Alec’s hand on his shoulder for a moment and taking just another second before returning to their table, _‘Here we are again!’_ and Nolan and Alec introducing themselves. Liam would sit with them, but couldn’t really bring himself to enjoy the rest of his night anymore, not sitting at a table with Theo, and not going dancing with Alec and Nolan again, standing in the middle of the dance floor and trying to clear his head.

He only had a smile just tugging at his lips, every now and then, when he caught Mason and Corey talking together, just the two of them seemingly have a good time, his best friend throwing his head back with laughter, and Liam’s heart skipped a beat, warm with how happy he was for him. Otherwise, beside that, the night couldn’t be over quick enough for him.

*****

In the quiet, empty hallway leading up to their room, Liam let out a breath, finally feeling able to clear his head, and calm down without the sensory overload parties typically brought with them. Behind him, he could hear Nolan and Alec talking with each other softly, keeping their voices down, and Mason caught up with him. Liam looked up.

‘You okay?’

Liam shrugged. ‘I think so,’ he said, looking over. Initially, after hearing what Theo’d said about him, he’d felt attacked, weirdly hurt, when the words hit him hard in the wrong way. He had experience with it though, people trying to get him down, making him stronger as a result, and he knew he was good at lacrosse. That was what all the training was for, and Scott and Coach had let him know more than once.

Mason nodded, smiling. ‘Luckily it’s still weekend first, before classes with him start.’

Liam chuckled at that, nodding, and he could hear Nolan chuckling softly behind them, as he caught onto the conversation. ‘Is it really lucky, though?’ he asked, coming to walk beside them, Alec catching up on Liam’s other side. ‘I saw how you looked at him when he first walked into the room.’

A snort escaped Liam, looking over at him. ‘And how was that?’ he asked. ‘As if I wanted to see him leave again?’

Nolan didn’t say anything, instead just wiggling his eyebrows, and a chuckle spilled past Liam’s lips. He sighed, turning to his friends when their room came into view, straightening his shoulders as he felt like they should just get this out of the way now, before more jokes coming from them could be thrown his way.

‘Trust me,’ he said, reaching their door and Nolan opening it, letting them inside, thinking of how much easier it would’ve been to forgive Theo for his comment had he not attacked one of Liam’s biggest weak spots, even if he was strong enough to get over it. ‘Theo Raeken will _never_ , find me caring about him like that.’


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait guys... This was really hard to write, so... But it's here now! I hope you'll enjoy it :)

Classes on Monday started early, for Liam. A groan of annoyance spilled past his lips at the ringing of his alarm on his nightstand, rolling over to turn it off, and pushing himself up groggily, blinking his eyes tiredly. Looking around the room, he saw the sleeping figures of his friends slowly starting to move too, Mason and Nolan sitting up first, and the ever-lazy Alec then too.

‘Fuck,’ he grumbled, lowly. ‘After the weekend, this sucks, time and time again.’

A soft wave of laughter rolled around the room, a soft noise slipping past Liam’s lips as much they could muster in the early morning, and Liam hid a yawn behind his hand, brushing his bedcovers aside and stepping down onto the floor.

Their weekend had been great indeed, relaxed, Liam passed his time playing competitive video games with Mason or hanging out with him, Nolan and Alec in the grass in their favorite spot in the school yard during a more quiet time of day, catching up on some homework they still had to do, and Liam was glad to be able to say he had seen as little of Theo as possible. He could imagine he and Corey were still busy settling in their new room, preparing for classes and their first real day here, too caught up in it to step outside much. He’d seen him in the cafeteria mostly, for their meals during the day and a skeptical look on the boy’s face as he examined the food options, though, much more to his joy, Liam could also say that he’d seen Mason and Corey talking with each other in the hallways more than once as well. Getting along even better after having first met, and feeling happy for his friend.

After a quick shower, the warm water raining down on him in a way Liam needed it to shake him awake at least a little bit more in the mornings, never failing to do so, Liam made his way down to breakfast with his friends, rolling his eyes at their mock impatience for having to wait for him and giving Alec a push, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. This was familiarity, the best part of school life and helping to make it easier, and he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Walking into the cafeteria, Liam was immediately met with the delicious smell of their school’s varied breakfast selection, his stomach rumbling in response and earning himself a smirk from Mason standing next to him, and after a moment’s pause they walked over to the line by the counter, getting their trays. Liam filled his up with two fresh sandwiches and a coffee, wanting to be sure he ate well, looking up as he moved along behind Nolan.

In the back of the room, he could spot Theo and Corey, sitting across from each other and their conversation not quite so animated so early in the morning, where they were both leaned over their coffee. Only where Corey was slumped in his seat, Theo sat up straight still, scrolling through his phone with his brows knitted together.

Seemed like early morning tiredness even got the best of him, then.

With their trays full, they made their way to the back of the room, passing by Gwen and Sydney greeting them with a quick good morning, to one of their favorite tables by the windows where they could always see the sun come up, glad to be putting their trays down. Liam moved over, making sure to leave a seat open for Mason, though his friend smiled, hovering by the side of the table.

‘I’m just… Gonna say hi to Corey real quick,’ shooting a look over his shoulders to where the unsuspecting boy was sitting. ‘I’ll be right back,’ earning himself looks of surprise from them in return, before they settled on mischievous, knowing smirks tugging at their lips. ‘Oh?’

It was enough to make Mason flush, his cheeks growing red. ‘Shut up.’

Liam snickered, a grin growing on his face as he walked away, eyes following his best friend to the other side of the room as his grin faded into a hopeful smile, able to pinpoint the exact moment Corey spotted him by the way his eyes brightened, and a smile split his face.

‘Do you think this is gonna take them long?’ Nolan asked Alec next to him, but Liam only caught the half of it, eyes fixed on where Mason stood beside Corey and Theo’s table, laughing and his shoulders shaking about something that Liam could only guess. His eyes bright, and it had definitely been a while, that Liam had seen him like _that_. A small smile curled at his lips, happily, eyeing the full tray of food still standing on the edge of the table, as suddenly he wasn’t sure that Mason would be back in time to eat it. Just to be sure, in that case, he grabbed the two sandwiches off of Mason’s tray, stuffing them into his backpack if he wanted them later. Technically, they weren’t allowed to eat during class, but he wouldn’t see Mason going without breakfast completely either. It hadn’t been the first time one of them had sneaked something in the classroom to eat.

With time come to go to their first class, swinging his backpack over his shoulders and walking to the classroom, it turned out Liam had been right, and Mason, Corey and Theo had walked together, already there when they arrived. Mason turned at hearing them, looking over at them, and Liam smirked, dropping his bag by his desk as he fell in the seat next to him, Nolan and Alec settling behind them.

‘Don’t,’ was all Mason managed, his cheeks red, as he saw the way Liam looked over at him, though his eyes were bright and Liam grinned, shrugging, deciding to let it go just for now. ‘I brought your breakfast,’ pushing his bag closer between them.

‘Can always count on you for the food,’ Mason uttered, chuckling, as professor Argent made his way past their desks to the front of the room to start his class. ‘Thanks, but I have actually had a little something,’ confirming Liam’s thoughts. He nodded, kind of having suspected as much already anyway, as he pulled out his books and notebook and turned towards the front of the room for the start of class.

By now he knew how Argent’s history classes always went, was used to his routine and liked the way he taught, quick and diving right into the interesting topics, actively asking for participation from the class and easy to follow for Liam, his hand always shooting in the air with every question after the extensive research he’d done on the topics, always more than the required reading. Argent had a talent of explaining things lively, with rich examples and stories, making his classes never boring. There was a reason why it was Liam’s favorite, and why Argent had earned the title of one of the most popular professors.

This time was no different, Liam nodding along with Argent explaining and taking notes, as they dove deeper into the French Revolution, seeing the ever so slightly proud nod and the small curl of the lips of the professor when he got a question right. The only one who didn’t participate much was Theo, the boy only answering questions when he was called on, and Liam stared at him frowning where he sat at his desk next to Corey. He never got them wrong, though, Liam noted reluctantly as he turned back around in his seat, the frown on Theo’s face after answering them still fresh on his mind, giving nothing of what he thought away like he did. Liam sighed, slumping in his seat, playing with his pen between his fingers.

So Theo was smart, then. That much was clear.

That still didn’t take away his voice with the disdainful tone in Liam’s head as he questioned his position and attacked his abilities as the Beacon Hills Academy lacrosse team captain.

*****

As it turned out, Theo and Corey had remembered his invitation to try out for the lacrosse team, and both of them took him up on his offer resolutely.

After what had been a long busy, full day of classes, during which Corey had proven to indeed fit right in and he and Theo had sealed their reputations as students that other people liked to talk about, Liam was standing on the lacrosse field with his team, in his lacrosse gear, ready to unwind.

The best part about lacrosse, to Liam, was that aside from the fact it allowed him to distract himself from his busy days and to get his energy out, all gathering up inside him during a long day buzzing under his skin, it gave him a shot at college. He would never be the student, unlike his classmates, who had the most money and would get the chance at the finer things in life. His parents had barely scraped together the money for him to go to college, just able to afford if they just took it easier on other aspects for a while, and Liam wanted better for them. At school, he felt he had to work twice as hard to gain the title of team captain and keep it too, overcoming his teammates prejudices that he could do it and beating the odds as a less well-off team captain for a change, and he needed that scholarship.

Because of all his best efforts, he honestly felt like he was a good player, and when the college scouts came for the first time to their next game, against Devenford Prep, he could show off his skills. Not going to college was out of the question, he’d dreamed of it and studying history for longer than he could remember now.

He needed his team to be good, desperately, and had trained them so as best as he could, hadn’t gone easy on them, not satisfied with just anything. Because of it, they seemed to respect him more, helping with their recent wins, and was why Theo’s comment about him had stung extra hard. Liam knew they were better than that, that he was good, and prepared to push it even further now. The comment only fueling his determination, he was never one to give up easily, and let people get him down for long.

That was why, when he turned around, shock washed over him at the sight of his two new classmates coming towards him, dressed in gear most likely borrowed from Coach before practice. And, well, truth be told, Liam hadn’t quite expected them to show up to something that had merely been a mock suggestion in an argument during a party.

Corey came first, Theo following after him closely in a more reluctant way, which Liam had figured out was kind of their way to go in social situations, the same as it had been when they met that first night at the party. Theo eyed the group warily, and from the corner of his eye, where they were sitting on the bleachers to watch their friends’ practice, Liam caught Mason and Nolan straightening their backs, seemingly having caught onto the action coming as well.

‘Sorry we’re late,’ Corey breathed as he was within earshot, shooting Liam a smile. ‘We were still finding the field.’

Liam nodded, shooting him a smile in return. He could imagine that. Sometimes, the school could seem kinda like a maze, if you weren’t used to it. ‘Don’t worry about it,’ he assured, welcoming them, gesturing that they could join the rest of the team. ‘We were only just about to start with warm-ups.’

Corey nodded, a look of quick relief flashing over his face walking over to join the group, Liam following after him looking to Coach and Scott as he waited for them to start explaining their training to the newcomers. Usually, their go-to warm-ups consisted simply of running laps and throwing ball back and forth, the team splitting up in duo’s and practicing their shots.

Liam went first, running up front doing a few laps around the field, unsurprised as he was passed by several guys with longer legs than him, eyes widening to find even Theo catching up with him easily and quickened his pace, taking in a few deep breaths getting his breathing back under control as they moved onto the next exercise. Liam grabbed his lacrosse stick from where it lay on the side of the field, shooting a quick look in Theo’s direction with his brows knitted together pensively. It was evident that Theo had played lacrosse before for Devenford, the guy seeming to clearly be in good shape so far, if his pace and physical condition while running laps was anything to go by, the boy not being out of breath that badly. For all of his big talk about lacrosse, though, Liam wanted to see what he was made of. If he could live up to the glory he claimed that was Devenford’s lacrosse team. Practicing shots seemed like the perfect opportunity for that to him.

‘Alec!’ he called as Coach gave them the green light to move onto their next exercise, the other boy turning and looking over at him at the call of his name. ‘Can you go do this practice with Corey? I’ll go with Theo,’ wanting to test him himself and catching the way the boy’s head whipped over to him from the corner of his eye. ‘We’ll see how you both do in goal after that.’

‘Can we not just…’ Corey started, leaving Liam able to take a guess at the only thing he could be asking, and for a moment he felt bad for him, his heart burning with regret, before a resolute sigh slipped past his lips. The more determined feeling from earlier washing over him again.

‘We want to see your abilities on the field,’ he explained, getting himself ready. ‘We’ll be able to get a better look at that if you don’t practice with each other.’

Corey stayed silent for a moment, a pensive look on his face as he turned to Theo, before nodding, seeming to get that, and Alec gave him a firm nod, leading him to an open space on the field further to the back. Theo watched them go, staring at their backs, before turning back to Liam.

‘If this about proving some point,’ he started, picking up his lacrosse stick and squeezing it tighter, readying himself, ‘You can let it go.’

Liam gritted his teeth, frowning, as he squeezed his hands tighter around his lacrosse stick. ‘This is about me wanting to find the best players for this team,’ he responded, thinking of how their team needed to excel when the college scouts came to their next game, his voice icily calm as he scooped up a white ball, and that was that.

They made a start, Liam shooting the ball towards Theo with force, though, despite his hoping otherwise, Liam was quick to find out that Theo was good at this as well, just like the laps, as much as he questioned Theo’s sincere interest in lacrosse until then. It turned out, Theo was quick and agile, throwing his balls back hard and fast and with an uncanny precision, moving his stick determinedly, and making it hard for Liam to catch them. Upon first meeting him, Liam wouldn’t have guessed Theo would have this in him. Theo was a challenge, he knew what he was doing, but Liam could see it clearly. They were evenly matched and it brought out a spark in Liam’s chest, why he had started playing lacrosse in the first place, heightened every time he caught a ball from Theo and Theo’s eyes turned dark, and Liam had never been one to back down from a challenge. Liked it, even, and it had him grit his teeth and grip his lacrosse stick even tighter at the thought.

Despite that, though, the frustrating realization that Theo meant what he’d said about lacrosse, he was perfectly capable of separating feelings from what he had to do as team captain, of recognizing what would be best for this team to make them play better and leaving his feelings behind on the sideline as he did so. On the field, they were a unit, a team, leaving their arguments for off the field, and if Theo was it, then he would do just that.

With a sigh he caught Coach signaling to them that it was time to stop from the corner of his eye and they came to a stop, a breath spilling past his lips, his face reddened and faintly short of breath as he took a step forward. Theo’s gaze met his, and Liam took in a few deep breaths, getting his breathing back under control.

‘Okay,’ he uttered under his breath, keeping his face blank leaning on his lacrosse stick as he turned back to Coach, and Theo stayed silent.

‘Listen up!’ Coach called, drawing their attention back to him. ‘Form a line!’ as he explained the exercise to them. It was familiar enough to Liam, and he moved to do as Coach said with the other guys. ‘Seems like your turn to be in goal then,’ Coach called out his command to Theo behind him, reaching his ears, obviously having seen them practicing shots together just now.

Theo gave a firm nod to him in return, pausing, steeling himself and taking in a deep breath before walking over. He looked ready in goal, his shoulders strained and his face blank, his fingers twitching around his stick and his eyes looking unsure being the only things to give away _even remotely_ what he was feeling inside. Liam frowned, looking away as he was used to that from the boy by now anyway, and moved along in line slowly, something shifting inside him itching to get a shot at the goal as he did so, his hand twitching by his side in anticipation.

‘So, how did he do?’ Alec asked in excited curiosity behind him, his voice breaking through the fog clouding Liam’s mind, buzzing with energy wanting it to be his turn already, thinking back on their practicing shots.

At the question, Liam turned, a small smile tugging at his lips. ‘…Good,’ he said after a moment’s hesitation. ‘Pretty good,’ as it was true, not sure what else to say about his exercise. ‘You?’

‘Also good,’ Alec nodded, eyes wandering further up the line where Corey stood a few spots in front of them. ‘He’s… Talented. He may need some more practicing, but you know I’m no star player myself,’ a snort spilling past their lips, and again Liam was amused by how they managed to turn their conversations from serious to humorous back to serious again. ‘I think me and Corey played together pretty well. He’d make a good addition to the team.’

Liam grinned, nodding folding his arms. ‘You know, you did actually score two points at our last game,’ he pointed out with a chuckle, as he knew for a fact that Alec was a good player, and it was often focus that was more his friend’s problem. They were working on that, and it was getting better. ‘But, eh, that’s good to know, thanks. I’ll keep that in mind,’ turning back towards the rest of the line again with a laugh, his eyes fixed on the goal.

Just like during their exercise before, Theo moved quickly in goal, holding out his stick left and right doing whatever he needed to, blocking most of the balls from flying past him into the goal effortlessly, and Liam scraped his shoes over the grass, clenching his hands into fists by his sides energetically, something swirling in his stomach.

As the line in front of him grew shorter, Liam grew more antsy, itching to go, and when it was his turn he scooped up a ball, eyes fixed on Theo and the boy staring right back at him. It was like he knew what was coming, having himself prepared, and Liam wouldn’t hold back.

Narrowing his eyes, Liam scraped his foot over the grass once more, getting himself ready and feeling his hands twist around the lacrosse stick, getting a better grip, as he stepped forward. Behind him, it was silent, and he let out a quiet breath as he got ready. Behind his helmet, he could see Theo narrowing his eyes in response, considering him and trying to read the moment in which he would shoot.

Liam bit his lip, gripping his lacrosse stick and feigning movement to shoot the ball towards the right, before turning abruptly and throwing the ball force towards the other side of the goal. He watched as it flew through the air, sucking in a deep breath to get back under control, the ball an almost unstoppable force of white so fast he nearly lost track of it, and watched as it soared towards the goal in a way that was almost impossible to stop it. Hope built in Liam’s chest, his throat dry as he grew excited, thinking that he got this…

Theo caught it.

Hit with the wave of disappointment at the sight, Liam took a stumbling step back, feeling his stomach sink and his shoulders drop. Swallowing away a bitter taste in his mouth, Theo shot him a look throwing the ball back to the next guy in line, Alec, and biting his lip as he made his way back down the line again, he ignored the looks his teammates shot him, only having received a friendly nod and small smile from Alec as he walked past him. Realistically, Liam knew he should’ve gotten that shot, should’ve been able to score, and it only made him look bad as their team captain that he couldn’t. The team captain was supposed to be the best player on the team, and it made Liam’s chest fill with embarrassment, hoping that the other guys wouldn’t doubt him in this position too much now. On the other hand, there was a thought nagging in the back of his mind, one that he couldn’t quite shake, that Theo was a strong player and his addition to the team would only make them better.

A sigh spilled past his lips, and with a quick exchange with Mason and Nolan on the bleachers, Liam slipped back into place at the back of the line again.

After that, after the shots had finished and everyone had gotten their turn, Corey having gotten his turn in goal as well, they made move to mimic a mini lacrosse game for practice, quicker and shorter than an actual game would be, and divided the team into two smaller groups. Liam wasn’t sure whether to be happy or not to have been placed in the group playing against Theo’s, glad to not have to talk to him, working together while playing, but knowing even before they started that he was in for a rough time.

He was right. Liam led his group with energy and spirit, with the determination he was so used to and always showed in other practices and games as well, his energy buzzing under his skin, but with Theo in the other group, seemingly having a perfect complete vision of the field and an ability to think ahead, reading Liam’s next move and blocking a great amount of his shots, winning was hard. Running around, though, Liam felt he could do the same, having a clear vision of the field that had helped him becoming team captain in the first place, having learnt that along with what to pay attention to from Scott pretty early on, and recognizing who to throw the ball at and weak spots and open spaces in the other group’s defense. With difficulty, seemingly making more effort than usual and sometimes getting passed by the other team, they managed to keep their lead for the most part, and with a good shot towards him from Josh, recognizing an open space from the other team from the corner of his eye and Alec’s help, Liam managed to get a ball in and score a point, the white ball soaring through the air rapidly fast and flying past Theo as he was a moment too late, hitting the net of the goal behind him.

It marked their winning point, and the boy turned, staring at Liam pensively, considering him. Cheering erupted around him then, and Liam tore his gaze away, not noticing the way Theo held on a moment longer, and a warmth filled him, running through his chest and feeling incredibly happy with himself for making the winning shot at last. Proving to his team he was still worthy of being their captain, a proud feeling in a way he hadn’t known in quite a while running through his veins and making his cheeks hurt with how hard he was smiling, something fluttered in his stomach as he couldn’t do anything other than joining the celebration of his group around him.

Who was he to say no to something like that, anyway?

Alec found him easily, hopping around the group with a grin, holding out his hand squeezed up in a fist, and with a grin, Liam bumped his own against it. Both of them catching their breath and evening it out after the mini game they’d had. ‘Well-played,’ Alec smirked.

‘Thank you,’ Liam snickered in response, ‘Not so shabby yourself,’ the game leaving him feeling buzzed and excited still, receiving muttered compliments from his teammates behind his back and feeling too high up in the clouds to turn back to reality for a couple minutes.

The cheering couldn’t last forever though, the laughing and the noise cooling down soon enough as Coach blew his whistle and signaled for them to quiet down, he and Scott waiting for them to do so and they could talk to them, and it was only when the running and shouting around him fizzled out, that he turned around to them, expectantly, taking in a few deep breaths.

‘Well!’ Coach called out to them, dropping his whistle back around his neck as they all gathered around him, having received the attention from the entire team. ‘It’s sure nice to see you can all play well too, after all! Keep that up, play like this at our next game, and we could sure win that too!’

A breathy laugh escaped Liam, knowing that they had done really well both now and in the past few games, they played like a real team, and Coach always pointed it out with the necessary snark directed at them. Despite it, though, Liam had figured Coach out well enough over the past couple of years to know he was actually happy with the results they’d made, and quite proud.

‘In the meantime…!’ Coach continued, cutting off the soft buzzing of voices that had started around Liam, before it could well and truly come to life again, signaling that he wasn’t done talking yet. ‘I think it's safe to say I’d like to welcome Corey and Theo to the team!’

Liam sucked in a breath, the hum of voices starting around him again as everyone congratulated the pair on making it in, clapping them on the back as they did, a wide happy grin playing at Corey’s lips. Of course they did, Liam wasn’t surprised to see the two had made it after the way they’d played that afternoon, looking over catching Corey’s gaze and sending him a grin in return, giving him a thumbs up as he was truly happy for him. At the same time, though, he also wasn’t surprised to see them being welcomed to their team so warmly either, as his gaze slid over to Theo, much more cautiously this time, where the boy stood quietly next to Corey, taking it all in stiffly. Liam couldn’t think of why. Everything seemed to come easy to him, he was good at lacrosse as Liam had seen that afternoon, he was smart, his parents had a real generous amount of money and with that status, he was rich. And he didn’t need help from a scholarship getting into college, Liam bet, getting help from his mom and dad instead. Along with all of that, he was popular, having received a warm welcome from everyone ever since first setting foot in the school.

They were still the new, rich popular kids that everyone had an interest in at school after all.

And as Liam stood there, taking it all in with his eyes sparkling bright and his chest warm, he debated what he should do with Theo on the team and getting him to play together with the rest of them, not intending to let him go on as this lone player as the boy seemed to tend to do. Aware of being able of leaving his feelings behind on the sidelines of the field, _he could do this_ , he was hit with the realization that he maybe had to start thinking about the best positions for Corey and Theo on the team.

Though, maybe, when the time was right for that, he could get the help from Coach and Scott for it.

*****

It was only a few days later that, when Liam came back from a class his friends didn’t share with him and walked back into his room, he noticed something different, pausing abruptly in the doorway stopping dead in his tracks.

Mason was sitting on his bed, propped up against the pillows by the headboard with a book in his hands and a grin seemingly permanent etched on his face, looking up as he heard Liam come in with his eyes shining.

Slowly, Liam looked around the room, taking in the happy upbeat music sounding through the room and the cheer that reminded him of his birthday or Christmas all at once, dropping his hands by his side, the happy look on his best friend’s face, and with his eyes on him he stepped further into the room, closing the door behind him and considering him curiously.

‘Alright,’ he said. ‘I know this routine of yours,’ a smirk curling at the corner of his lips, the music and his friend’s bright eyes a telltale sign of good news for him. ‘What’s happening here?’

Mason chuckled, closing his book with a smack and placing it down beside him as Liam made his way over to his bed, dropping his school bag on it, his best friend beaming as he looked up and leaned further into the pillows in his back, a smirk tugging at his lips. ‘Well,’ he started, his cheeks a healthy rose color. ‘Since you clearly won’t stop bothering me about it,’ a snicker escaping both their lips at the joke, ‘I have a date.’

Liam stilled, his hands freezing where they were busy unzipping his backpack, looking up at Mason through his lashes with his eyes widening in a way he was sure must look comically, as a smile grew wider on his face, excitement for his friend rushing through him. ‘With Corey?’ he asked, eagerly, as he couldn’t think of anyone else lately who Mason would’ve wanted to go on a date with.

Mason snorted, amused by Liam seeming just as excited as him about it, despite the fact they always were for each other’s achievements and it was just something that happened when two people knew each other for as long as they had. Beaming, Mason looked up, his eyes shining bright as he fumbled his hands in his lap quietly. Liam frowned, eyeing the movement suspiciously, as he knew that surely Mason could have no reason at all to be nervous about this if the way Corey had talked to him was anything to go by.

‘With Corey,’ came the response. ‘He asked me to go next Saturday.’

Mason pushed himself up, a small happy smile on his face and a still disbelieving glint in his eyes that this happened, and so soon too, his cheeks a shade darker than usual, and Liam smiled, feeling something warm settling in his chest at seeing his best friend so happy. Thinking of the right words to say to cover the excited thumping of Liam’s heart in his chest for him right then, and still feeling like they didn’t do it justice. For days now, he’d heard Mason going on about Corey, about how well they got along and how much he’d thought they had in common, about how smart Corey was, talking to him during early mornings before classes and laughing harder than was normal for him, and Liam could say that he had honestly started growing a little impatient for when they were gonna take the next step. He knew Nolan and Alec had too, teasing Mason about it when Corey had come up to their table at lunch or sat behind Mason in class. Mason had laughed along with it, his cheeks a healthy rose color, but brushed it off in the end nonetheless. And yet here they were.

Mason rolled his eyes, nodding a quiet thanks as he could tell where Liam’s thoughts had been without a problem, likely thinking the same thing himself, and sent Liam a grin. ‘Thanks,’ he replied simply. ‘I’m… Kinda nervous about it,’ he confessed, exhaling a deep breath squeezing his hands together before he looked up. ‘He hasn’t told me where we’re going.’

Liam nodded. ‘I can imagine that,’ he replied honestly, deciding to leave his backpack for what it was for now and sitting down at the foot of his bed. He looked over at Mason. ‘I’m sure it will be great. That guy has some amazing ideas, but I bet he just wants to keep it a surprise. And honestly, I don’t think you have anything to worry about. He’s basically the definition of _heart eyes_ whenever he talks to you.’

Mason snorted at the expression, rolling his eyes at Liam in mock annoyance though his cheeks tinted red, and a pillow coming flying from his direction hitting Liam in the stomach. ‘That's not... Shut up!’

Liam cackled, his shoulders shaking, and from the corner of his eye, gone watery with laughter, he could see Mason doing the same, the sound of his laugh reaching Liam’s ears telling him that he had joined in.

‘I’m sure you’re right,’ Mason hiccupped, breathless, as soon as he could and they had recovered a little bit more. ‘About the surprise, I mean. Anyway,’ the boy suddenly turning mock serious again, his eyes fixed on Liam and all his attention directed at him. ‘When are we going to find you a date?’

‘Me?’ Liam abruptly turned serious by the question again, raising his eyebrows looking over at Mason. ‘Oh, let me know when you find someone.’

Mason sighed at that, turning serious, and Liam listened to him again as he lectured him on how there was _someone for him_ again, even as he’d been a little unlucky in that department. Liam sighed, letting himself fall back against the pillows by his headboard as well, and after that, the conversation steered onto other things, better things, such as the upcoming lacrosse game and the school trip to town that was still in the distance at that point. Liam smiled, letting the conversation wash over him and chase every other pressing worry from his mind, as he pulled his school books out of his bag and onto his lap, busying himself with his homework on his bed.

*****

Lacrosse training after that, preparing for the lacrosse game against Devenford Prep, was ruthless, Coach keeping them on their toes and not really seeming satisfied with any results that were anything less than perfect, ordering them around loudly and pushing them further and further no matter the weather. Rain and smoldering heat alike had Liam grown cranky, along with the bigger amount of laps they were made to run and the rougher kind of exercises, the tension and pressure clear to and felt by everyone. Liam wasn’t the only one with a lower tolerance that time.

Despite that, though, he wasn’t blinded completely, through all the negatives they faced he didn’t miss the positives, like the fact that their training paid off, they were getting better, and how Corey fit in with the rest of the team effortlessly. They included him, played with him, threw the ball at him, like he’d always been there. He guessed Corey just had a way of fitting in wherever he was. Even Theo was doing better, the other players having taken notice of him being a strong player as well and throwing the ball at him as a result, belonging with them on the field as a team and running in the middle, proven himself more than worthy of his spot, though off the field, their teammates had started to notice the same thing Liam already had the night of the party. Theo was often cold, stiff, seemingly put-off by his classmates and making no notable effort in conversations with them, leaving Corey in his spot as the most popular one out of the two as he climbed down the ladder a little more, and where the rest of the team and the students had warmed up to Theo quickly after first meeting him, they were now left rethinking their stance and cooling down quite in that regard.

It wouldn’t be their first game against Devenford Prep, and so Liam wasn’t as nervous as he would be against a new school for the first time. He had a fairly good idea of what he was in for, of what to expect and how Devenford played, and so did the rest of the team, and they played as one, always having been quite evenly matched to the other school. Aside from that, they now had Corey and Theo, the other team having lost that and the guys being a great card up their sleeve, and Liam grinned despite the brutal training, having faith in their game because of that.

He knew Devenford Prep’s lacrosse team captain, Brett Talbot, was competitive, though he didn’t really know him beyond that, had never spoken more than a few words with him other than _“good luck”_ before games or _“congratulations”_ after one of their teams won after the game, but damn it, so was he. Liam hadn’t known about Brett’s foot injury before Theo had spilled the story, but he couldn’t help but let it spark something determined in his chest, grinning and feeling hopeful already for their match.

He’d heard a lot of good things about Brett, that he was charming and funny and caring, and Liam was sure he was all of those things, but he grinned, as this upcoming game’s win was gonna be for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Liam is really energetic in this one... :D   
> I hope you liked it! Let me know what you think, comments make my day! :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The long-awaited lacrosse game against Devenford Prep has finally come, and Liam can't say he's feeling entirely confident about it. Luckily, luck seems to be on his side in more ways than one. And of course, his best friend's love life is going as well as it could!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back again! With this! I hope you like it!   
> Enjoy! :)

As it turned out, Mason and Corey’s date didn’t go quite as they’d hoped. Aside from the date itself, of which Mason had relayed the story to Liam, they’d had been in less luck when it ended. Their date had been perfect, Mason had told Liam the story of how much fun they’d had, Corey holding his hand for the first time early on already, as they’d gotten permission to spend the afternoon off on Saturday and drove off to go get lunch before visiting a museum. But their luck on the way back, though, wasn’t quite the same. They were caught in a bad rainstorm, the open roof proven to be too broken to fit over the car again and the two of them late with finding shelter before continuing on to school, and at last, the consequences of it seemed to have caught up with Mason.

The sniffling and coughing started the next day after getting back, worsening over the course of the next few days, and at the beginning of the mentions of a sore throat and a voice hoarse like sand paper, his best friend’s eyes turning watery, Liam couldn’t help but be worried, a heavy feeling settling low in the pit of his stomach. He could see Mason growing pale, his eyes dazed and mind not as quick as his best friend’s could be. But it wasn’t until the incident happening in P.E., where Mason stumbled resulting in him missing the volleyball coming towards him, that Liam decided he’d had enough.

Carefully, with steady determined hands, he let Mason from the room, sitting his friend down for a sip of water for a moment before guiding him back to their room, forcing him to get in his bed. In private, with Liam not backing down telling Mason to do the things he knew his best friend would need to take care of himself, the fever that had been well on its way, just waiting to come out, hit the boy on full force, Mason coughing under the covers and burning up and Liam felt his forehead. He couldn’t stop the concern from washing over him, enveloping him from every angle.

The only good thing that was coming out of all of this unpleasant situation, Liam could think of, was that they could now say with certainty that Corey honestly, truly liked and cared for Mason. Whenever they passed in the hallways, Liam walking by him, Corey seemed truly worried, the boy shooting him concerned, regretful looks. It was clear he felt sorry for taking his best friend out on a date that resulted in this, and Liam felt something sharp burning in his chest in response, knowing that it wasn’t his fault.

Now Mason was lying in bed, his covers pulled up to his nose and only his eyes peeking out from under it, looking red and watery. As Liam sat next to his bed in the desk chair, the constant concerned feeling nagging in the back of his mind, that seemed to have been there all the time, seemed to have gotten louder.

Mason’s fever seemed to have lasted way too long already, it should’ve gotten less bad the day before. Instead, it continued on as it was, and Liam felt his stomach crawl with worry. He just wanted his best friend to be okay again, worried with how long it took and how uncomfortable Mason must be. At the very least, classes were incredibly boring without him, without his sharp and quick remarks to the teachers’ questions and stories, that never failed to make Liam short of breath with laughter.

‘Do you think he’s gonna feel better soon?’ Nolan interrupted Liam’s thoughts from the other side of the bed, his voice coming out as just a whisper where he sat next to Alec. Snapped out of his thoughts, Liam glanced up at them, watching as Mason rolled over in bed at the words.

‘I can hear you, you know,’ he managed, the way his voice came out raspy, hoarse and quiet from a sore throat being the only thing that made Liam flinch at the sound instead of laugh. Mason shot him a quick look in concern, questioning whether he was okay, before turning back to Nolan when Liam nodded. ‘I’m literally right here.’

A snort escaped Nolan’s mouth at that, a raspy breathless sound slipping past Mason’s lips as well as laughter echoed around the room. It made Liam relax from his worries, even for just a moment, as he welcomed the familiarity of it.

A knock on the door sounding through the room loudly then, though, cut their laughter short, and

Liam snapped his head up in curiosity, looking over at the door and standing up.

Opening the door, Corey stood on the other side, shuffling his feet and having his hands stuffed deep into his pockets, biting his lip and clearly lost in his worried thoughts before the sound of the door opening got through to him and he jumped, looking up at Liam with startled, wide eyes.

‘Hey,’ Liam started as he saw him, a small smile pulling at his lips and unsurprised that he did, pulling the door open a little wider and shooting a quick glance over his shoulder towards Mason lying in his bed.

‘Hey,’ Corey breathed, staying silent for a moment gathering himself, looking up and trying to get a peek into the room over Liam’s shoulder as he fidgeted with the hem of his sweater.

‘How is he?’

The guilt, the nerves of being here and having taken Mason out on a date that had gotten him sick, sounded heavily through his voice, and Liam sighed, looking over his shoulder before turning back to Corey. He knew it wasn’t the other boy’s fault, it was just unlucky, and though he told him so, it seemed that the worry had never quite left Corey.

‘He’s… A little better than he was,’ Liam sighed, knowing that that would give Corey little reassurance, he was still worried himself too after all, and he held the door open further, silently letting Corey know to come in. Corey gave a thankful smile, stepping forward hurriedly the door closing behind him, a concerned look clear in his eyes, and Liam followed after him.

‘Hey,’ Corey uttered, giving a little wave to Alec and Nolan, still sitting by the bed greeting him back, before his eyes inevitably wandered off to Mason again.

‘Hey,’ Mason pressed out hoarsely, the word coming out rough and he gave a smile, propping himself up a little more against the pillows, his voice warm and his eyes bright looking over at Corey, flattered at seeing him here. Liam bit back a chuckle, amused, and looking over, he saw Alec and Nolan weren’t holding themselves up much better under the attention Mason and Corey gave each other, faint smirks tugging at their lips exchanging looks with Liam.

After Liam, Corey walked over to the bed, giving Liam a small thankful smile as he offered him the last available seat in the room, and sat down at the edge of the bed. Liam took his seat next to him again.

‘How are you?’ Corey asked, his eyes apologetic, and Mason shook his head, clearly sharing Liam’s opinion that he didn’t have to feel like it was his fault, meeting his gaze.

‘Never better,’ Mason attempted in a joke, though he cut himself off, his joke failing, as it was followed by a cough, contradicting himself, and he pulled a chuckle out of Corey. The boy shook his head, fondly mock-disappointed, and Liam’s eyes wandered down to where Mason and Corey’s hands moved closer together, finding each other, just underneath the blanket, and intertwined. A soft smile, feeling happy for them, curled at the corner of his lips.

‘Say that again when you don’t sound like you’ve eaten sandpaper,’ Corey joked, … him, seemingly relaxing and some of the tension flowing away, just like how it had been for Liam when Mason had gotten just the tiniest bit better. His shoulders dropped, and a wave of laughter at the comment rolled around the group. 

‘Sounds like you know who’s the boss here, Mase, seems like you better listen to that,’ Nolan snorted, and the other boy nodded, a wide grin showing on his face.

‘Yeah, yeah, I’ll keep that in mind. Or else he’s not gonna let me forget it,’ Mason said, flashing Corey a mischievous smile. Corey narrowed his eyes at him, sending him a mock-glare, before his amusement got the better of him and his smile broke through.

‘Good. You know it,’ Corey said, resolutely, the strictness he tried to keep in his voice drowned out by the big, sunny smile he couldn’t help but sent Mason, easily satisfied with the answer, and he relaxed his shoulders, easily joining in with the unique atmosphere from Liam’s friend group. Liam was pleasantly surprised with how easy he fit in with their weird group of misfits. He reminded himself that Corey was still technically “the new kid” and he was trying to find a group of friends, to find his way at school. He was probably happy with every group that took him in, wanting to belong, and Liam was determined to make him feel welcome, since he clicked with Mason so well that was only natural, and he could see Nolan and Alec thought the same thing.

Conversation came easy to them then, they talked for a while, about everything and nothing, about school, homework, lacrosse or trips or events that the school held, they filled Corey in, and the time passed, and they talked and laughed like they’d known the boy for years. An hour passed, and Liam could see that Mason was getting tired again, the need for sleep and his worry about his best friend setting in again, and he wanted to give Mason and Corey some time to catch up on their own again without them there, before Mason would slip away into sleep again.

Quietly suggesting as much, proposing to get out of here and catch up on work, Nolan and Alec stood up, gathering their books, and Mason shot him a quiet grateful look, a small smile tugging at his lips. Liam smiled, nodding back in response, and gathered his lacrosse gear, waiting for his friends and stepping outside behind Alec and Nolan. Looking over his shoulder once more, he could see Corey sitting closer by Mason now, having moved closer to him, he could see the bright look in his eyes, the way Mason’s eyes fluttered shut with exhaustion every now and then. A warm smile was on his lips listening to Corey and looking at him, and something warm buzzed in Liam’s chest, happy with the way things were turning out for his best friend.

Quietly, not disturbing them, the closed the door behind slowly, stepping out into the hallway, and unsurprised to turn around and find Alec and Nolan standing behind him with their arms crossed and smirks on their faces. Questioning and curious for what Liam was thinking.

Liam raised his eyebrows at them, rolling his eyes mock-annoyed with their shenanigans, wordlessly telling them to quit it and stop bothering Mason. Alec and Nolan just grinned, waving it off as they turned around, to go to their studying in the library, but Liam knew their teasing was just their way of saying they were happy for Mason and Corey as well, and he couldn’t blame them if he at least shared that habit a little bit. A grin tugged at the corner of his lips, chuckling shaking his head mock-disappointedly as he turned and walked off in the other direction of the hallway.

While Alec and Nolan had agreed to go do some studying on their biology in the library, Liam had found his sudden free time perfect to go and practice some shots on his own on the lacrosse field. Hurriedly, he made his way down there, through the halls eager to get changed, the excitement and need for action already buzzing beneath his skin and hyping him up, when a voice behind him called out, startling him from his thoughts making him stop in his tracks.

‘Hey! Liam, wait up!’

And Liam froze; he could recognize that voice anywhere, if not simply by the way it had set him on edge before already. He turned around with gritted teeth, his shoulders tense and his head held up high, and he took in the other boy walking towards him, looking him up and down. ‘Theo,’ he managed politely but icily, exactly the way you would be expected to someone you disliked, and he wrapped his hand tighter around the strap of his lacrosse bag. ‘What’s up?’ His voice coming out strained.

‘Uhm, I…’ The boy walked closer, catching up with him his hands in his pockets, suddenly seeming unsure. ‘I was just wondering how Mason was doing. I heard he was ill. Is he okay?’

Liam couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The words, so gentle and caring, so concerned for his best friend, coming out of Theo’s mouth, the same guy who had insulted him so coldly and harshly just days before. Theo, suddenly seeming so unsure, uncertain of what to say, it was such a huge shift from the carefully cool and collected boy he was before, face kept blank and unreadable for everyone around him, keeping everything inside, that Liam didn’t quite know what to do. Liam couldn’t help it, he could feel the anger starting to buzz beneath his skin at Theo staring over at him questioningly, as he thought this guy honestly had no right to start caring and asking about Mason now! Not after proving he was already one of the least caring people in the world.

‘He’s fine,’ Liam managed past gritted teeth, turning starting to walk again, picking up his pace again with his sports bag hitting against his leg as he did, Theo hurrying to catch up with him and fall into step beside him. ‘He’ll get better soon, thanks _so_ much for asking.’

Theo stayed silent next to him for a moment as they walked, breathing in his hands stuffed in his pockets as he stared at the floor, pausing for a moment and thinking over his words before continued. ‘That’s, eh… That’s good. I’m glad,’ and Liam hated the air of uncertainty, of fake, forced niceness suddenly radiating off of Theo, his face open and expectant waiting for Liam to say something in response. He was almost waiting, wanting, for Theo to see his natural self pop up again, waiting for him to say something rude, snarky, hateful even, as that was how he’d chosen to have done things up until now. But it didn’t come.

Liam sighed, his annoyance for the other boy bubbling up underneath his skin, making his need for action and working out even more pressive and apparent, itching to get out on the field and venting off this talk by shooting balls at the goal aggressively. ‘Yeah, well,’ he sighed, nodding and looking over. ‘I’m gonna practice lacrosse. Taking this time to work out. And I’m sure you… Have, schoolwork to do, as well.’

Liam bit his lip, at Theo staring over at him. His cheeks burnt under Theo’s gaze, the boy looking at him, feeling like he was lying under a microscope and being picked apart by the other’s judgement, waiting for him to say something, something sharp, and he bit the inside of his cheek. He didn’t actually think of himself as a generally awkward person. He always knew what to say, always had something to say, and conversation and laughter in his friend group flowed easily. They could relax around each other, sometimes even without saying anything, and they had a good time. But now, he could feel it, the awkwardness, hanging in the air between them, burning, as the silence stretched on a little too long for it to be natural. Liam bounced on his feet a bit, staring over at Theo, and there was only so much he could do about it while waiting for a response, while waiting for Theo to muster up the very least of human decency and break the silence. It wasn’t his fault Theo couldn’t even seem to carry on a normal human conversation.

‘Yeah! Of course,’ Theo cut him off, folding his arms seeming to know where the sentence was going. ‘I’m… I’m gonna do homework, I have to catch up on geography anyway. You know…’

‘Yeah.’ Liam nodded, and he breathed in, feeling unsure of how to stand under Theo’s gaze. ‘I’m gonna go,’ he continued, deciding on it resolutely and turning, taking a step further away from Theo. ‘The field awaits.’

‘Yeah,’ Theo said behind him, his arms crossed, seemingly having nothing else to say and Liam rolled his eyes, an annoyed emptiness settling in his chest though he didn’t know why he was surprised to find Theo was incapable of carrying a conversation like a human being. Though, honestly, he wished he could figure out whether it was really that, or that Theo just thought that he was above all that. After all, he seemed perfectly able of talking when he insulted Liam and his lacrosse playing and leadership.

He could feel Theo’s eyes burning in the back of his head for a moment, before footsteps going the other way and fading out towards the end of the hallway betrayed Theo walking away again to go to the library for studying, and Liam exhaled a breath, his heart pounding against his chest.

He had no idea what the hell had just happened, or why Theo hadn’t tried to pick him apart judgingly or insult him harshly this time around, but he couldn’t help but feel that he shouldn’t cheer too soon quite just yet, and that the biggest thing was still about to come. 

*****

The training continued, hard, with Coach and Scott drilling them harder than ever before. Liam was

working himself out until he was red and breathless, and small droplets leaked onto his forehead, but his playing together with Theo seemed to have gotten better. They could react to each other’s moves now pretty well, seemed to read whatever the other was gonna do before they actually even did it, and Liam felt, with a confident buzzing underneath his skin, that all their hard work had paid off!

On Wednesday was the game against Devenford, Theo’s old school, and Liam felt like he was ready. Everyone had gathered around the field, the whole team, Coach stood a few feet away from them checking something on a schedule he had in his hands, and the bleachers were buzzing with people, animated voices and laughter sounding through the air. Looking over his shoulder, his friends were sitting right there, Nolan and Mason sitting together in anticipation for the game. Ever since Mason had gotten better the day before he could come to the game, and Liam was happy that he could and that he was there.

Liam stood on the sidelines, eager to start tapping his foot on the ground, with Corey, watching as the Devenford team made its way onto the field, standing on the other side. They got their gear ready, pepping each other up, and as a thought popped into Liam’s head, a realization hitting him suddenly, his head snapped over at Corey.

‘Are you nervous?’

It took Corey a moment to answer, register the fact that Liam had been talking to him, and with his brows furrowed he turned, looking back at him. ‘What?’

Liam chuckled, wrapping his hands tighter around his lacrosse stick. ‘Well I just thought, it must be weird to see them all here now, and… Having to play against them.’

Corey’s light mood was gone after a second, his smile faded from his face. With a frown, grasping what Liam was talking about, he turned back, following Liam’s gaze to look at them grimly. ‘Yeah. I mean kinda. I imagine it must be harder for Theo.’

That, captured Liam’s attention, the name making him whip his head over at Corey, a dark kind of curiosity settling heavy in his stomach. ‘What do you mean?’

Corey stayed silent for a moment, staring ahead with a pensive look on his face, thinking of his words to say next, before he looked back at him with a thoughtful look in his eyes. He shot a quick look in Theo’s direction, standing a bit away from them, and what Liam thought was a look of worry cast its shadow over Corey’s face, passing quickly. Of course, Theo was still Corey’s friend, and Liam compared it to him being worried about Mason, just a day or two before. ‘Just… That we left school for his sake. Because he wanted to.’ He sighed, turning grabbing his lacrosse stick from where it lay on the ground by his feet. ‘Forget it.’

Liam got the strange feeling that Corey said something he shouldn’t have, that he touched a subject that was sensitive and that he wasn’t allowed to. A heaviness settled in his stomach, a grim kind of curiosity for what the story was, and Liam kept his mouth shut, the night they’d met Theo and Corey, Gwen had told them as much too.

Liam chewed on his bottom lip, wondering, but it was far too little information for him to try and piece any of it together, that would explain Theo leaving and Corey going with him. Why would a friend do that for you, and he wondered what the story about it was. Did Theo bully someone? Did he get in a fight? Was he actually kicked out of school instead of simply leaving? Was there another situation going on that Liam was sure was dramatic?

From what he’d seen of Theo, it could be anything, it certainly seemed possible, and there were just too many possibilities to know.

Liam was left curious, wondering, before his thoughts were interrupted, and he told himself he should think about it all later, Coach calling them over for the beginning of the game. ‘Alright. Let’s play.’ Liam was pumped, for this game. His excitement, nerves and determination making it easy for him to drown out what Corey had said, storing it away somewhere deep in his mind to be able to pull it out again later, ridding himself of any distraction he could possibly have during the game, and Alec joined them then, a wide grin brightening on his face.

‘Let’s play,’ Corey joked back at him, grinning, and they started down the line, the three of them making their way over to Coach with the rest of the team, followed by the tense gazes of Mason and Nolan sitting on the bleachers for the game, who seemed almost more nervous for it than they were. Devenford Prep was always a difficult match, even without Theo on the other team, and they all knew it. Let them just hope that, with Theo on their team now, luck would be a little more on their side.

Coach gave his pep talk like he always did, calling them to gather around, pumping them up and getting them hyped for the game with harsh words that meant in his own way that he was proud, and that he believed they were gonna do good. ‘Alright! Gather around and listen up! I know you all have been playing less good since this season started, my gran could’ve done better than that, but since then you’ve shown me that you all got it in you! And I believe that you all can do it! We have the luxury of world’s most stubborn team captain’, Liam felt his cheeks heat up at the strange backwards compliment, ‘and two new players, so lack of talent and hard work can’t be the problem! You’ve worked hard and shown me that all of you can do it! So get out there, get on the field, and kick their asses!’

He paused for a moment, looking down at his schedule before turning to Liam, with an expectant, determined, look on his face. ‘Dunbar! Anything you wanna add to that!?’

Liam bit back the grin that started on his face at the question, having bounced on his feet, hyped up, all through the speech, and tightened his hold onto his lacrosse stick as he stepped forward. ‘Alright!’ he started. ‘Coach is right, we have been making some amazing progress during training! So if we’re gonna play this game with that same kind of team work, we can make this match ours and win!’

A cheering erupted, following his pep talk. Liam grinned widely, feeling the need to get out there and play, the absolute excitement, buzzing in his chest, itching, and he stepped back, checking his gear and making sure he was ready to go.

With that, they went, ran out onto the field and Devenford Prep did too, and Corey grabbed Liam’s arm to slow him down, a funny, questioning look on his face. ‘Is he always like that before games?’ complete amazement sounding through his voice.

It didn’t take Liam much thinking who Corey was talking about, he burst out laughing. ‘What, Coach? Yeah,’ he snickered, shooting Corey a grin as he looked at him in amazement. ‘You better prepare.’

‘That’s, uh… Good to know,’ Corey countered, his eyebrows furrowed in thought. Liam let out a laugh.

They took in their positions on the field, Liam wrapping his hands around his lacrosse stick until his knuckles were white, scraping his foot on the grass taking a look around the field from under his helmet to oversee it. He caught Theo standing somewhere next to him, meeting the boy’s gaze, and there was a silent understanding that they would work together, even better now, as leaving their issues they had outside of lacrosse off the field was even more important during games.

He saw Brett, Devenford Prep’s team captain, looking at him challenging, undeniably beautiful blue eyes staring over from under his helmet, there was no denying that the boy was really handsome, and that had also helped him to gain his spotless reputation. And with that, the game started, the ball flying across the field and both teams ran towards it in full speed, shooting into action. Liam started from his position, and as the action started, trying to intercept the ball, he could feel the hyped buzzing in his chest subduing just a little. It was gonna be a good game, one that he would have to work for, but it was gonna be worth it, and he was ready.

*****

‘Hey.’ Liam was standing around with his friends, surrounded by a circle of Mason, Alec, Nolan, Corey and Theo standing a little more at the outside of the group, laughing and going over the game, revisiting their best moments, when he heard the voice speaking up behind him, tapping him on his shoulder, and he turned. His smile fading from his face as he saw who it was, who was standing behind him.

Brett Talbot, the captain of the opposite team, their longtime rival Devenford Prep, all impressive and effortlessly cool, popular and endlessly celebrated by people, easily handsome without even having to try, which also helped him with his perfect reputation, looming over him. Here he was, with a sweat damp forehead, flashing a wide toothy grin at Liam, holding out his hand. A feeling that this was special, lowering his eyes, Liam looked down at his hand, shaking it.

‘Good game man. Congrats on the win.’

Liam panted, letting out a breath and considering Brett, looking at his face for any signs of insincerity hesitantly, before letting his shoulders drop and giving him the chance, a wide grin starting brightly on his face. ‘Yeah. Thanks! You too.’

‘Yeah, you played good. You deserved it,’ Brett said, grinning.

Liam felt his smile starting on his face. Devenford Prep and Beacon Hills Academy had always been kind of rivals, for so long now, that their respective lacrosse teams had never been too nice to each other, sometimes even resulting in pranks that went a little too far. He hadn’t expected his rival team captain, representing his team on the lacrosse field, to suddenly be nice to him. But it was true, Liam had worked hard and had trained pretty determinedly, either with the team or alone, and it felt good to hear.

They were interrupted by Mason, his friends putting their talk to a pause. ‘Liam?’ Mason asked, cutting through his thoughts, looking over with a smile. ‘We’re just gonna go inside already, yeah, Alec and Corey are gonna get changed. We’ll see you inside for dinner?’

‘Yeah! Yeah, for sure,’ Liam nodded brightly, smiling appreciatively for his friends thinking of him, waiting for them to go before he turned back to Brett. He frowned, furrowing his brows, taking him in questioningly looking him up and down.

‘So shouldn’t you be over there?’ he asked, without beating about the bush, nodding to where Devenford’s team was standing on the other line of the field and shooting suspicious looks at the two of them together. ‘You know, celebrating the game, with your teammates?’

Brett chuckled, following his gaze shooting a look at the rest of his team, before looking back at Liam with a smile. ‘Nah,’ the boy smirked, his eyes shining bright, taking Liam by surprise. ‘They can wait, I see them all the time anyway. Besides, we lost. The only one with a real reason to celebrate around here is you! You won! Anything special in mind for a party?’

Liam snorted, leaning back against the little metal fence in front of the bleachers relaxed, pleasantly surprised by how easy the conversation went. ‘Nah, not really.’ He grinned, looking over at Brett. ‘You say that as if we have fancy parties every time after a win. When really, I just sit in my room and eat chips and watch a movie with my roommates.’ He snickered, meeting Brett’s gaze. ‘So sorry to have to disappoint you.’

‘Hmm, your loss,’ Brett countered easily, grinning, his eyes glistening. ‘You are the team captain, it’s the least they could do,’ he clarified casually as Liam shot him a questioning look. ‘But maybe you should come to Devenford once then. We are known for our parties.’

‘Hm, so I’ve heard,’ Liam fired back, smirking as he looked to the side. He narrowed his eyes, curiously, jokingly. ‘Must be the dream life. Do you do anything, about school, besides that?’

‘Hmmm, that’s tough,’ Brett leaned his head back, pretending as if he had to think about that long

and hard. ‘I know there’s subjects I suck at. Like French.’ A wistful sigh escaped Brett’s lips, and he looked back towards Liam, a small smile growing on his face.

‘Oh, well, you should ask Mason!’ Liam offered brightly, his grin widening on his face. ‘He’s good at that!’

Brett stayed silent, chewing his lip, looking down at him pensively. For a moment, Liam worried he may have said the wrong thing, but then a slow, tentative nod came from Brett. He turned, staring at his teammates across the field. ‘Maybe. I could keep it in mind. There’s tutors at our school, but thanks for the tip.’ He looked towards Liam, shooting him a quick smile, and Liam was just a quick to return it.

‘So,’ Brett continued then, a smile lightening up his face, as he went back into the more upbeat direction their conversation had gone into before then, and Liam accepted it with open arms. Brett pushed himself off of the fence, coming to stand in front of Liam with his arms crossed, looming over him.

Despite his overwhelming stance, Liam didn’t find him intimidating, looking up at him with a smile as the sun seemed to create a warm golden glow around Brett’s head.

‘Do you really not do anything to celebrate your win?’ He looked at Liam curiously.

And truthfully, a bit shamefully, Liam had to think about that for a moment, before the obvious answer popped into his head. ‘Yes! We do!’ He grinned, following Brett’s lead, pushing himself off from the fence. ‘Next week, our year is going into town. It’s like, something we do every now and then as a school trip. It’s nice to feel free like that sometimes.’

‘Hm,’ Brett frowned, shaking his head softly. ‘That’s the only thing you do?’

‘Yeah!’ Liam grinned brightly. ‘It doesn’t need to be, like, impressive parties every time. Though… I heard from a couple of your teammates that you got the afternoon off next Wednesday. Will you be there too?’

Quietly, hopefully, he shot Brett a look. And something light, something mischievous, glistened in Brett’s eyes as he looked back.

‘Maybe,’ he mused, thinking out loud. ‘I’ll see if I can make some time.’

Liam chuckled, looking up at him, when over his shoulder, he saw Theo standing and looking at him with thunder in his eyes, a glare fired right at them.

Liam thought, he had never seen someone’s eyes so dark, so angry, that for a minute it made him angry too. He had no idea what Theo’s problem with him was, but the stupid nonsense had to stop sooner or later.

Without thinking about too much, or reading too much into it and let it ruin his good mood, though, he looked back towards Brett, an easy smile finding its way back onto his face. ‘I’ll keep that in mind,’ he said.

‘Look out for me,’ Brett responded. ‘Maybe we’ll… Run into each other. Who knows.’ He grinned, flashing Liam a smirk. And suddenly Liam knew for a fact, he would see Brett in town. It was only that, that made the prospect of the trip even better.

‘Well…’ Brett sighed then, interrupting Liam’s thoughts, pulling him back into reality. ‘I should get going then. I better get back to my teammates, get changed and everything. See ya,’ he smirked.

Liam nodded, looking over at him. ‘Yeah, of course. See ya,’ he grinned back in response, earning a last smile from Brett before he turned and looked over his shoulder, lazily strolling back across the field, and back towards his teammates.

And after he disappeared out of sight, Liam followed his lead and did the same, a sigh escaping his lips, as he hurried his way back to the locker rooms and changed into his normal clothes. His stomach rumbled, hungrily, and he was quick to join his friends waiting for him in the dining hall. Of course he was greeted by a loud whistling, Liam laughing in response to it, as his friends teased him and questioned him about every little thing, about him getting along well with the rival school’s lacrosse team captain ( _You have to tell us what happened! Mason called_ ). And Liam laughed it off, brushed it off, welcoming the good, light mood that hung in the air during their dinner, after winning the game.

Because, what else were friends for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! :)  
> Let me know what you think! Comments make my day! :)

**Author's Note:**

> As you can see, maybe, I still need to find my footing with this a little.  
> But I hoped you liked it! Let me know what you think, comments make my day! :)


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